British Cycling's Hall of Fame Inductees Named

British Cycling has revealed the names of 50 cycling heroes who have been selected for induction into its new Hall of Fame as part of the organisation's 50 anniversary celebrations.

British Cycling received over 300 nominations for the Hall of Fame, ranging from riders, coaches, team managers, sport administrators and volunteers through to public figures instrumental in progressing the sport.

A Hall of Fame selection panel, consisting of cycling journalists and British Cycling representatives, met in late November. They began by deciding unanimously to focus on past cycling achievements rather than contemporary cycling successes and to make the first Hall of Fame a tribute to the past five decades.

Victoria Pendleton MBE, panel member, explained: "We made a conscious decision not to select elite riders who are still competing at an international level or coaches and managers at the top of their game. We also agreed we should recognise administrators and volunteers who have been active in the sport over many years and have made a significant contribution to it during that time. There have also been several posthumous awards."

British Cycling's President, Brian Cookson OBE, who chaired the panel, said: "The response we've had from the public to the Hall of Fame has been phenomenal and choosing just 50 individuals out of over a hundred nominees proved very challenging. With such a fantastic number of nominations this year we have decided to make the Hall of Fame an annual event to enable us to recognise more recent and current cycling successes."

The 50 cycling heroes will be officially inducted into the British Cycling Hall of Fame when the organisation concludes its 50th year anniversary celebrations with its Gala Dinner, which will be held at Manchester Central on 20 February 2010.

The 50 cycling heroes to be inducted into the 2009 British Cycling Hall of Fame are as follows, arranged alphabetically: